Southampton signing this £80k-a-week PL star would be a terrific move by Hasenhuttl amidst Cedric exit talks

Why Southampton should sign Davide Zappacosta on loan

According to a report in Sky Sports, Italian side Inter Milan are in advanced talks to sign Southampton full-back Cedric Soares. The 27-year-old has played 18 league games for the Saints this season, but has been benched for the last two games, in which the team defeated Leicester City and Everton.

The right-back arrived at the St.Mary’s in 2015 and has made 104 top-flight appearances for the club. However, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has hinted that he plans on trimming his squad as he prefers to work with fewer players and get the best out of them.

Southampton have already offloaded Manolo Gabbiadini and Wesley Hoedt in this window, and now Cedric is in talks over a move to the San Siro.

If the club and the manager feel this sale is good, they should do it, but replace the right-back by signing Davide Zappacosta on loan. Here’s why:

Saints need more quality in defence

Southampton are undergoing a resurgence under new manager Hasenhuttl. Before his arrival, the south coast club were languishing in the drop zone, and had little hope to stay up this season. However, with the arrival of the Austrian, the team has won four of the previous eight league games, propelling themselves to 15th position in the table, three points away from the drop zone.

Under the new management, we have seen changes in how the team has played, especially in the defence. Yan Valery, a 19-year-old youngster, has been a regular at right wing-back. Hence, the previous first-choice right-sided defender Cedric had been playing at left wing-back before being on the bench for the last two games.

Hence, we can see why the Portuguese is in talks over a move to Inter. However, if the player leaves in the next seven days, the club need to replace him. They cannot rely on a teenager to play every game from now until the end of the season. Furthermore, two players for each position is the way to go for building a squad.

Thus, getting Davide Zappacosta from Chelsea won’t be a bad idea. The £80,000-a-week Italian prefers to play as a wing-back and hasn’t played much football under Maurizio Sarri this season. Southampton should sign him on a short-term loan deal to help Valery and also have an extra experienced option in the defence.

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From the player’s viewpoint, he would get more chance of playing football at Southampton than at Chelsea.